January 2009

Last week Éowyn had become fractious and not her usual self, but we have discovered the cause, she is in the early stages of teething. All the symptoms are there: dribbling, red cheeks, earache and a tendency to nibble on dad’s fingers whenever he holds her. I think that this has also lowered her immune system a little as she also has a cold. So in an effort to help her through this, we are rubbing snufflebalm (a vicks type rub for babies) into her chest, bonjela (for babies) on her gums and calpol when the earache is too bad.

Even though she is obviously in pain, we have only (so far, touch wood) had one bad night, Sunday, when she did not get to sleep until 04:00. We are not used to this as she has been sleeping through the night for many weeks and it was a shock to the system. She was also antsy went we went out for a farewell meal with our friend Sanjiv. She did not settle and with hindsight this was the beginning of her teething episode.

The cold and teething is also having an effect on her weight gain. She currently tips the scales at 13lb 3oz (5.98kgs) which is only a 4oz gain on last week’s weight. This takes her below the line of weight gain that she has been following quite closely since birth. It is something that we will have to keep an eye on.

It doesn’t seem to be bothering her too much though as she is still smiling and happy when her teeth aren’t hurting her, and now she is laughing out loud. She has been smiling and making a kind of giggling noise but last Sunday she laughed out loud. Not quite as loud as her father but a definite rise in decibels.

Please note that there is a new page ‘The Engagement’ currently it is just photos from our trip to India in March 2006 when I proposed to Lucinda, but I will add some words in due course.

Just a few more photos to add this time, but please enjoy.

Peace and love

Baggie!

Who loves her daddy?

Dressed up for a night out

Pink Shoes

Natasha and Éowyn

Asleep with Bernard

My posse

OK, a little belated but as you can see, I have been working on the website. It was getting a little cumbersome so I have tried to streamline it a little, and I will probably be tinkering with it over the next couple of weeks, until I am happy. There are also some new photos on our Flickr site, so feel free to have a little look there too.

So how was Éowyn’s first Christmas? As you can appreciate she was only 10 weeks old and so had no understanding of what was going on. As long she gets fed, is entertained and has her nappy changed she is happy. However, we have kept all her Christmas cards so that when she can appreciate them she can read all the messages that you have all sent. Again we have to say a big thank you to all of you that sent cards and pressies, she is one lucky lady.

We were invited around our friends, Danny and Andrea’s for a Christmas Eve party, which was great to catch up with our friends, as since Éowyn has been born we have not met up with them as often as we used to. In fact I have not, as yet, arranged a night out with the lads to wet Éowyn’s head, apologies all around, I will pull my finger out I promise.

Christmas Day was spent around Lucinda’s parents along with Lucinda’s immediate family, so John and Jenny had all their descendants, quite a houseful, but really enjoyable and relaxing, as Lucinda’s parents looked after us all very well. Éowyn was very well behaved, waking only for some food and a cuddle from Nan and Granddad (see photos below) after we had all eaten to bursting point.

Working in sports related TV means that Boxing day is not a day off, in fact it is one of our busiest days and so my Christmas holiday was over before it started. However, it means that I don’t suffer from the back to work blues that is possibly affecting many of you this week, and at least I am back at work which is more than can be said for a great deal of people in these economic climes.

We paid a visit to Nanny Fran on the Monday and Tuesday after Christmas. Mom was supposed to have been at work on those days but on Christmas Eve she had passed out in the kitchen, cutting her forehead quite badly and knocking herself out. She was taken to hospital and after a barrage of tests was released that evening with 5 days worth of antibiotics. She spent most of the Christmas period convalescing being looked after by my sisters. I think Éowyn’s visit cheered her up, but it was evident that mom was ill as she was not putting up a fight when we waited on her, not like her.

New Year’s Eve was a quiet affair, again I was working on the 31st and then the 1st so even if we had wanted to we could not have had a heavy day. So we stayed up drinking champagne and went to sleep just after midnight, my how things have changed!

Over the last fortnight Éowyn has started not only to roll on to her side, but straight over on to her belly. Unfortunately, she then gets a little frustrated. She understands the mechanism behind crawling, but has neither the strength or the technique to actually move. Which we are thankful for but I don’t think that it will be too long. She also enjoys pulling herself up to a sitting position. (In truth you are doing most of the work, but she is definitely helping). However, the biggest step she has made in the last week, was made last weekend. She has started to sleep in her own room at night. She has slept through the night for quite a number of weeks now and as she is rapidly outgrowing her moses basket, we thought it was time that she got used to her own room. For the time being we put her to sleep in her moses basket in the cot, but as you can see from some of the photos below, we are trying to acclimatise her to the cot as that stage will soon be here.

The health visitor is very happy with Éowyn’s progress, she is following the weight gain curve very accurately now tipping the scales at 12lb 15oz (5.86kgs). We have just got to book her next set of immunisations in the next couple of weeks. Poor girl.

We would just like to thank everyone for their love and support of the last year and would like to wish you all the very best for 2009 and we look forward to sharing the adventure with you all.

Peace and love

Baggie, Lucinda and Éowyn xxx